Letters in the Ocean
by T-phon
Summary: My 30 Day Tahnorra Challenge entrees. Mostly just drabbles in which I attempt to get back into the habit of writing fluff. Pretty innocent for now; chapters might get a bit risque in the future. Fluff. TahnoxKorra
1. Holding Hands

I'm having a go at the 30 Day Tahnorra Challenge, because I need something to do to get my mind off things, mostly; I'm writing drabbles as a stress reliever. I'm sure this sort of drabble has been done before (honestly, it's been so long since I've actually read any fanfiction), but it served as a nice break from my life. Bear with me, I haven't written anything that actually resembles fluff in years. I hope that this challenge will get me back into the habit? Hopefully, with enough of these exercises, I'll find the inspiration to continue my long-term Tahnorra fanfic, "The Dark Water Calls." Maybe.

Rated K+

One-Shot, drabble, slight fluff

* * *

**Day 1: Holding Hands**

Tahno stretched his arms out over his head as he bent his way on to the beach of Air Temple Island, the sand crunching beneath his booted feet as he let the water slip away. He grasped his letter to Korra firmly in his left hand; he didn't plan on staying long.

It had been half a month since the Avatar had restored his bending, and Tahno had yet to formally thank her - hence, the letter. While he generally didn't have a problem speaking with most women, there was something about the Avatar that gave him pause recently. He was nervous to see her, never quite knowing what to say. His usual suavity vanished and he had found himself about to turn into a bubbling mess on several occasions. He had been able to catch himself each time, but his automatic change in demeanor while in the presence of the Avatar unnerved him. He missed the days during which he had been able to stand tall and challenge her, fearless. Not that he was afraid of the Avatar; rather, he respected her. Hell, he respected her more than he respected himself, and that was most likely the problem. He had never thought of someone as superior to him before.

Tahno sauntered along the beach, making his way to the docks that led to actual Air Temple. He lavished the feeling of the breeze through his hair; thank the spirits Korra was able to restore his bending and therefore his voluptuous locks. He was sure that he had mentioned that element of his thanks somewhere in the letter he carried.

Coming around the bend, a giant white paw came into view. Tahno paused as the rest of Naga's massive form was revealed, sunning on the sand in the midday light. The polar-bear dog lifted her head in acknowledgement of Tahno's presence, setting it back down once she made the decision that Tahno posed no threat. While Tahno and Naga were far from being friends, she recognized Tahno as harmless. Tahno had yet to decide whether this was a good development or not, but he would take Naga's nonchalance to his presence in the current situation. Slowly stepping around the beast, Tahno caught sight of another figure present - Korra was sunning as well, resting in Naga's dense fur and very much asleep.

The former Wolfbat stood still and watched the sleeping Avatar, musing at the sunlight playing off her bronze skin. Driven by impulse, he stooped down next to her and swept away a strand of hair that was clearly bothering her nose. His hand hesitated in tucking it behind her ear; Korra snored loudly, but didn't stir. Tahno glanced down at the letter folded in his hand. In giving her the letter now, he bypassed dealing with Tenzin, the Fire Ferret brothers, small children, and ultimately actually having to talk to Korra. All awkwardness would be averted. His fingers trailed down her arm to her hand; her palm was facing up, towards the sun. He had never stopped to consider how beautiful she really was. He had seen her as a foe to compete with, an Avatar to respect ... perhaps there was a part of him that wished to see her in a different way - a way that he had never allowed himself to consider. Perhaps there was more to his nervousness around her than merely respect?

Tahno toyed with the thought of possibly being romantically attracted to Korra, the Avatar. His fingers brushed hers; her hand twitched, but he was only met with another loud snore. He couldn't suppress the chuckle that murmured from deep in his chest. Watching her face, he allowed for his long fingers to intertwine with hers, holding their hands interlocked before slipping his hand away.

Tahno took the letter that he had been holding in his other hand and placed it in Korra's outstretched hand, weaving it between her fingers with the hopes that it wouldn't blown away. He walked to the edge of the water, taking one last look at the sleeping girl before he left. He'd talk to her about the letter later. Maybe over dinner, or something. He grinned as he swept the water up around him. _Or something_.

* * *

Yeah, not really a carefully composed masterpiece. My continuation of the "30 Day Tahnorra Challenge" depends mostly on life, really. Today, it was a good way to distract myself.


	2. Cuddling

Prompt 2 of the "30 Day Tahnorra Challenge:" Cuddling. I'm still trying to get into the habit of fluff.

This is a pretty short drabble; it's rated T.

* * *

**Cuddling**

Tahno's hand slid up Korra's bare thigh, his cool fingers raising bumps on her flesh and sending a brief chill down her spine. Korra leaned forward and bit at his jaw.

"Cut that out!"

The dark-haired water bender looked at Korra incredulously as he pulled his hand away, his arm tightening around her waist. "You don't want me to touch you?" His sculpted eyebrows shot up.

"Not there." Korra squirmed against the silky sheets of Tahno's bed. She rested her cheek on Tahno's bare chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.

"You didn't have any problem with it twenty minutes ago." Tahno bent down and returned her bite, his tongue briefly brushing her cheek in the process. She tried not to let the playful lilt in his voice or the memories of their actions over the last hour shake her current resolve. Right now, she wanted peace. With Tahno.

"That was then. This is now. Right now, I just want to stay like this." She closed her eyes, soothed by the rise and fall of his chest.

"You want to cuddle?" Korra could feel Tahno rest his chin on her head, giving her loosened hair a quick kiss as he did so.

"Yes."

"Just stay here, and cuddle?" Korra could hear a mild skepticism in Tahno's voice.

"Yes."

"_Fine_." Tahno drawled out the word and the corners of Korra's mouth inched up.

"Thank you, Tahno." She gently kissed the smooth skin of Tahno's chest before relaxing completely into his embrace, allowing both her body and mind to melt into a content state of oblivion.

* * *

(Was it okay?)


	3. Tahno Week

I wrote this for Tahno Week a while back, and it's not really Tahnorra per se, but both were in it.

And then I included may Days 2/3 entry at the end. Never finished the whole week.

Tahno Week

* * *

Day 1: Dream

Tahno tossed his empty bottle into the wastebasket as he stumbled into his bedroom. He flinched slightly as it shattered against the other broken bottles that had met their fate before it. Breaking, shattering, and crashing noises still set him on edge; two weeks after the incident at the Pro-Bending Tournament, his ears were still ringing. Of course, his damaged hearing was the least of his problems.

Tahno didn't bother turning on the lights; the night lights of the city through his window provided enough illumination for him to see. Besides, he was becoming fond of the dim and the dark. He slicked his limp hair back before turning on the radio. More news about the Avatar and her quest to bring down Amon. Something about Councilman Tarrlok. The advertisement jingle for Future Industries.

Tahno fell back onto his bed, closing his swollen eyes and letting his hair fall back into his face. How long before he would be forced to sell these silk sheets, or these pillows stuffed with turtle-duck feathers? He opened his eyes a bit to stare at the ceiling. This was a nice apartment; how long before the rent became too much for him to handle? Against his will, his eyes began to close again. Fighting sleep became useless, and Tahno relinquished his body to what he hoped would be a deep and dark sleep.

ooo

Tahno felt something cool running along his skin. Opening his eyes, his gaze met with the Avatar's. Korra grinned as she ran her cool, long fingers down his bare abdomen. Where had his shirt gone?

"Uhvatar? The fuck are you doing here? I'm pretty sure I locked the door." Tahno frowned. It wasn't so much that he minded the Avatar touching him (it wasn't like he hadn't fantasized about it before), but he had been pretty adamant lately about locking his apartment. If she could get in, who else could?

"You let me in, silly."

"I did what?"

Korra brought her face close to Tahno's, her ponytails brushing his skin. "I came to see how you're doing." She sat upright on his bed and began tugging at the fastening on his pants. "These won't do."

Tahno tried to sit up, but Korra pushed him back down. "Korra, what the hell?"

Korra paused, looking at him. "You don't want me here?"

"That wasn't my question. Why are you here, how did you get in, and why in the name of all spirits both above and below are you trying to take my pants off?" Tahno's head was hammering. Something wasn't right, here.

Korra giggled. "I'm sorry. I know that you'd rather be on top."

"I–what? Did you just giggle?" Tahno blinked in disbelief. While the majority of his time spent with the Avatar up until now had been primarily hostile, he knew for a fact that she wasn't the type of girl who giggled.

Korra abandoned her attempt to remove Tahno's pants and crawled over him, placing her knees on either side of his chest and sitting on his stomach. "But you don't get to be on top. Not now, not ever again." Her hands gripped his shoulders and she leaned in close, touching her nose to his. "You are nothing, now." Korra leaned back and raked her nails across Tahno's torso, shredding the flesh.

Tahno opened his mouth. He couldn't tell if he was screaming or not; all he knew was pain. He watched in horror as the blood bubbled up on his chest. Korra repeated the action, giggling again as she did it. "You can't even heal yourself, can you?" She bent down and kissed one of his wounds before looking up at him, his blood on her lips. "You were never a winner – not really."

Korra pushed her hands down on Tahno's chest, sending him through his bed with its blood-stained sheets. He was falling.

Tahno landed in water. No, it wasn't water – it was salty and thick and definitely not water. He flailed his arms, but he was already sinking. It was just like the tournament, when Amon had thrown him into the water after stripping him of his bending. Except this time, Tahno knew better than to try to manipulate the liquid around him. This time, he knew for certain that he was powerless.

A hand grabbed Tahno's hair, pulling him out of the fluid and into darkness. His feet rested on a cool, swaying platform. Metal, perhaps? Whoever had saved him swung him around so that they were face to face. Tahno immediately wished that he had been allowed to drown in the liquid.

There were no eyes in the cavities of Amon's mask; only black stared back at Tahno through the pale porcelain. The red circle in the center of the mask dripped crimson down the nose; drops fell from the tip onto the platform they stood on.

"You're nothing but a bully."

Amon pushed Tahno down with his partially gloved hand before his mask disappeared into the shadows. The Equalist leader was replaced by several pairs of glowing yellow circles which quickly surrounded Tahno as he shook on the platform, too paralyzed with fear from his encounter with Amon to bring himself to move. As the lights came closer, Tahno realized that they were the goggles of the Equalist followers.

The darkness was pierced with electric blue sparks from the rods that the Equalists carried. Tahno could hear them buzzing around him. He had always known that Amon wasn't finished with him; that Amon would come back and carry out the rest of the job. Tahno only prayed that it was quick. The sparks came nearer and Tahno found himself unable to close his eyes. He didn't want to see his own demise. A gloved hand appeared in front of his face. By the time Tahno had realized the function of the glove, his vision was pierced with a blinding light and all he knew was warmth and a stinging in his head.

ooo

Everything in the room shook as a loud clap of thunder echoed through the apartment. Tahno sat upright in his bed, panting. A dream! It had just been a dream. Rather, it had been a nightmare. He unbuttoned his shirt and inspected his chest – not a scratch. Of course it hadn't been real; a giggling Korra? Rather, a Korra who wanted to get in his pants? As of late, no one wanted to get in his pants.

Tahno got up and stretched. His mouth was dry; he needed some water. He flinched, his gut wrenched from even thinking the word. Perhaps he needed to take a break from Republic City. He nodded to himself. He'd look into it in the morning, after adding an extra lock to each door and window.

* * *

Days 2 and 3  
(Water and Teamwork)

Tahno stared at the glass of water that rested on the counter in front of his face. His throat was dry and beginning to itch, but he didn't want to touch it. He didn't want to hold that glass and feel the water slip down his throat to relieve his thirst, because that water might as well be dead. No matter how he pushed or pulled or reached with his mind, the water stayed still. It was as dead as he felt.

A hand reached into Tahno's field of vision and grabbed the glass, pushing it up against Tahno's nose.

"Drink the water, man! It's good for you!" Ming waved the water around in the air. Tahno grabbed it and took a sip, glaring. He grimaced as he felt the cool sensation slither down his throat. It was gone too soon.

Ming slid onto the barstool to Tahno's left, with Shaozu joining them on Tahno's right.

"What are you two doing here?" Tahno pushed some of his limp hair out of his eyes and looked at his former teammates. They weren't looking great, but they were looking better than he was.

"We eat at Narook's, too, you know. Don't you remember us? We're the guys who used to sit at the other end of your pile of girls." Shaozu gave Tahno's shoulder a light punch, forcing a laugh.

Tahno forced down another sip. "They're gone, too."

"But we're not." Ming looked at the former waterbender solemnly. "We're still here."

Tahno set the glass down on the counter as he stared at Ming. He glanced at Shaozu, then back at Ming. "Yeah, I guess you are."

"It's been only a few days since, you know, but it feels like it's been a lifetime." Shaozu clasped his hand on Tahno's shoulder in a gesture that would have bothered him in the past. Now, he was just glad for the human contact. "But we'll get through this."

Ming nodded. "As a team.

Tahno let himself chuckle; it was a foreign sensation from deep in his throat. "I guess that was what it was all originally about, wasn't it? Us, as a team, taking Republic City by storm?"

"We'll take it again!" Shaozu grinned.

Tahno raised an eyebrow. "Your hair is flat."

"Have you seen yours?"

Tahno downed the rest of the glass of water. It was still painful, and life was still shit, but perhaps with a little forced optimism and a little strained teamwork, they could all make it through a step at a time.

* * *

Aaand that was how far I got in Tahno week.


End file.
